Home › Research › Caregiving
Contrasting results between caregiver's report and direct assessment of activities of daily living in patients affected by mild and very mild dementia: the contribution of the caregiver's personal characteristics
Zanetti O, Geroldi C, Frisoni GB, Frisoni GB, Bianchetti A, Trabucchi M.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1999-02-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To determine the level of agreement between the primary caregiver's report on patient activities of daily living (ADLs) and ADLs assessed directly in a sample of patients affected by very mild and mild dementia and to assess whether this agreement is influenced by the caregiver's depressive symptoms and burden. Patients and methods Data were obtained from the baseline sample of the Mild Dementia Longitudinal Study, consisting of 111 consecutive patients affected by dementia with very mild to mild functional impairment (grades .5 and 1 on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale). As is usual for patients referred to our Alzheimer's Unit, anamnestic, cognitive, functional and behavioral information are collected from the primary caregiver. Along with sociodemographic characteristics, caregivers' depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory Scale) and burden (Nowak and Guest's Caregiver Burden Inventory Scale) were also evaluated. Patients underwent a performance-based assessment of the activities of daily living (DAFS) and direct assessment of physical function with the Physical Performance Test (PPT). Caregiver's report and direct observation have been compared for the following ADLs: dressing, toileting, walking, telephone use, shopping, and money use. Discriminant analyses were conducted to examine the degree of agreement between caregiver-report functional status and performance-based measures and whether additional agreement is attributable to caregiver's burden and depressive symptoms. Results The strength of the association between the caregiver's report and performance-based measures of ADLs is high for motor performance (walking), moderate to good for dressing, but only moderate for telephone, money use, and shopping. No association was found for toileting. The discrepancies between caregiver report and performance-based assessment were influenced substantially by the burden caused by demands and restrictions on a caregiver's time. Conclusions With the exception of motor performance (walking), the caregiver's report and the performance-based assessment of functional status measure different aspects of a patient's functional status. Contrasts between the caregiver's report and observed ADL performance in mildly and very mildly demented patients are influenced by the caregiver's burden.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Zanetti, O., Geroldi, C., Frisoni, G. B., Bianchetti, A., & Trabucchi, M. (1999). Contrasting results between caregiver's report and direct assessment of activities of daily living in patients affected by mild and very mild dementia: the contribution of the caregiver's personal characteristics. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1999.tb04578.x
Vancouver
Zanetti O, Geroldi C, Frisoni GB, Bianchetti A, Trabucchi M. Contrasting results between caregiver's report and direct assessment of activities of daily living in patients affected by mild and very mild dementia: the contribution of the caregiver's personal characteristics. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1999. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1999.tb04578.x. PMID: 9988291.
BibTeX
@article{zanetti1999-9988291,
author = {Zanetti, O. and Geroldi, C. and Frisoni, G. B. and Bianchetti, A. and Trabucchi, M.},
title = {{Contrasting results between caregiver's report and direct assessment of activities of daily living in patients affected by mild and very mild dementia: the contribution of the caregiver's personal characteristics}},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.1111/j.1532-5415.1999.tb04578.x},
pmid = {9988291},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1999.tb04578.x}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results The strength of the association between the caregiver's report and performance-based measures of ADLs is high for motor performance (walking), moderate to good for dressing, but only moderate for telephone, money use, and shopping.
Why it matters
This study found that agreement between caregiver reports and direct assessment of daily activities was high for walking, moderate to good for dressing, and only moderate for telephone use, money use, and shopping in people with very mild to mild dementia. It is about assessing function and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: journal h-index 344 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1999 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 213 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.3 citations a year over 29 year(s) since 1999 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 3 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Marco Trabucchi: h-index 48 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli: institution h-index 282 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 9988291) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
4 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Caregiving
Also tagged “care”
995 studies in the library carry the topic tag “care”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 995 tagged studies.